1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to papermaking fabrics, in general, and to dryer felts having improved bulk, in particular.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional dryer felt consists of an endless conveyor belt made from a multi plane fabric, wherein the various planes can be defined either by different groups of cross machine direction yarns, machine direction yarns or both. The planes, or plies, or layers are united by a plurality of machine direction yarns. The yarns used to weave the most up-to-date dryer felts are made from synthetic monofilaments such as polyester or polyamide, or synthetic multifilaments, from such materials as polyester, acrylic, polyamide or the aramid fiber group--NOMEX and KEVLAR.
Because some of the synthetic materials are quite expensive, manufacturers are continually seeking to improve dryer felts, both in terms of cost and in terms of dryer felt reliability. Along these lines, it is important in certain dryer felts to maintain low air permeability, and one way of lowering the permeability is to weave more yarns to the inch. This, of course, adds to the cost and weight of the already expensive felts.
It is toward the development of a relatively inexpensive, low-permeability, light-weight dryer felt that the present invention is directed.